Folding bed



w. D. DRIVER FOLDING BED Aug. 19, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 23, 1950 n u m m 11111 B ntcl I WILFREU Filed Sept 25, 1950 Aug. 19, 1952 w 3, DRNER 2,607,046

FOLDING BED 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WILFRED ]].DRNER Htt. urns i. l l .l lili 5 x 4 sheet -s eet 5 FOLDING BED W. D. DRIVER lnu nbur' I WILF ED [LDRIV E i 4%; Qttnrng Aug. 19, 1952 Filed Sept. 25, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 w. D. DRIVER FOLDING BED Aug. 19, 1952 Filed Sept. 23 ,v 1950 Inuntnr' WILFRED I U. DRIVER E /fl Plttmrn Patented Aug. 19, 1952 FOLDING BED Wilfred 1). Driver, Thessalon Township, Ontario, Canada Application September 23, 1950, Serial No. 186,395

4. Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in folding beds of the type wherein the folding bed structure, when in a closed position, is contained within a cabinet designed to simulate a fireplace, mantlepiece and chimney breast, and arranged to be normally positioned against a wall of the room in which the bed is contained, or set within a suitable recess wherein the chimney breast face of the cabinet is flush with the wall.

The structure is so formed that the mattress supporting frame is pivotly mounted in the vicinity of the lower portion of the fire-place simulating cabinet, and adapted to swing outwardly and downwardly therefrom when the bed is swung from the vertical to the horizontal position.

The object of e the invention is to mount the fire-place, mantlepiece and chimney breast face assembly of the structure upon the lower or outer face of the mattress supporting frame, I and wherein the outer face of the mantlepiece and frame surrounding the fire-place aperture forms a support for the bed when it is in a downwardly swung or open position.

A further object of the invention is to so arrange the structure that the bed may be made up in the normal manner before being swung from the open horizontal position into the closed vertical position; a blanket retaining board being hingedly secured to the head of the bed so that it presses against the bed clothes and pillows when the bed is in a vertical position to retain the bed clothes and pillows against falling out of place, the blanket retaining board being in a vertical position at the head of the bed when the bed is open and concealing the bed counterbalancing mechanism which is contained within the cabinet behind the board.

Another object of the invention is to furnish a type of arrangement wherein a normal bed of six foot length is mounted and arranged in such a manner that an extension is constituted wherein'a bed of approximately six and one-half foot length is provided With the foregoing and other objects in view as shall appear, my invention consists of a combined folding bed and simulated fire-place constructed and arranged all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

;Fig.v 1 is a front elevational view of one arrangement of the device in the closed position, and showing the faces of th fire-place, mantle piece andv chimney breast.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view through 2' the structure as shown in Fig. l, and illustrating the bed in the downwardly swung or open position.

Fig. 3' is a vertical cross-sectional view'through the structure shown in Fig. I and taken through.

the line 3-3 Fig. 1, the bed" being in a closed position.

Fig. ris 2. front elevational view of the blanket. board containing portion of the" cabinetwhen the bed is in the open position, being defined by the lines 44, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional view through the mattress sup porting frame and corner panel of the cabinet and showing the draw-bolt or. latch arrangement for lockingthe bed in the open position, the view being taken through the line 5'-5,'Fig.- 2.

Fig. dis a front elevational view of the. lower portion of an alternative construction of thedevice in the closed position, one corner being broken away to disclose the mounting upon which the bed is'swingably supported.

Fig. 7 is-a verticalcross-sectional view taken through the line 'I'-1"Fig. 6v and 'showingthe first step in manipulating the device to swing the bed downwardly.

Fig. 8 is asimilar view to Fig. '7, and showing the bed in the downwardly swung or open position.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the arrangement for swingably supporting the bed, as also shown in the broken away portion in Fig. 6.

Like characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in the different views of the drawings.

Referring to all the figures, 2 is the fire-place aperture, 3 is the mantlepiece, and 4 the chimney breast which as shown in Fig; 1 carries the decorative mirrors 5. The forwardly swinging mattress supporting portion of the assembly is contained between a pair of panels 6 forming the sides of the cabinet and which are of hollow cellular construction and carrydecorative electric light fixtures upon their upper portions and are faced on their lower portions to blend with the frame 1 surrounding the fire-place aperture 2. The forwardly swingable mattress supporting portion of the assembly consists of the frame 1, mantlepiece 3 and the face of the chimneybreast 4, which as shown in Fig. 1, carries the mirrors 5.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, the lower edge of the frame I is secured by hinges 8 to the baseboard All-of the structure, and about which the bed swings, as shown in Fig; 2. The mantlepiece 3 and fire-place panel frame 1 protrude from the face of the chimney breast a distance corresponding to the height of the bed when in the open position and constitute the floor engaging bed support as shown in Fig. 2. The mattress frame 9 is mounted upon the rear face of the downwardly swingable portion of the structure and on or within which a standard mattress H3 is contained. A blanket retaining board is hingedly secured to the upper edge of the head member of the mattress containing frame 9. The board is formed of upper and lower sections H and I2 which are connected together by hinges l3 at their abutting edges. In order to retain the upper section II in alignment with the lower section [2 when the bed is in the open position,

as illustrated in Fig. 2, a pair of vertical brace members I 4 are furnished to extend along the side portions of the front faces of the sections; the braces being secured to the upper section II and extending over the front face of the lower section 12, whereby the lower section may swing rearwardly at an angle to the upper section as shown Fig. 3, but is restrained from swinging forwardly out of alignment with the upper section as shown in Fig. 2.

The lower section l2 of the blanket retaining board carries a forwardly extending ledge substantially at right angles thereto, and pivotly connected by hinges I 6 to the head member of the mattress containing frame 9. The head member of the mattress containing frame 9 is of less height than the top of the mattress If! whereby the ledge I5 is at a lower level than the top of the mattress. If it is desired to have a bed longer than the length of a standard size mattress, a mattress extension pad I! may be placed to rest upon the ledge l5 and thus provides an extension of the mattress length.

Toffurnish a counterbalance for the weight of the bed when being swung, I attach a pair of cables 18 to plates 19 secured to the upper portions of the sides of the mattress frame 9. The cables I8 are passed over suitably mounted pulleys 20 in the corners of the hollow. side panels 6 and are connected to the lower ends of elongatable spiral springs 2! which are attached at their upper ends to eye bolts 22 adjustably contained in brackets 23 secured to the inner side faces of the panels 6. a

. To retain the blanket board sections H and i2 tightly against thebe'dding when the bed is in the closed position, as shown in Fig. 3, a pair of elongatable spiral springs 24 are furnished. One

end of each spring is swingably attached to a bracket plate 25, the bracket plates 25 being secured to the inner side faces of the panels 6. The other ends of the springs 24 are attached to bracket plates 26 secured to the lower corner portions of the rear face of the blanket board section ll. The bracket plates 25 are sopositioned that the springs 24 are under tension when the bed is in a closed position, as shown in Fig. 3, whereby the blanket board is drawn tightly against the bedding upon the vertical mattress.

To prevent the. blanket board sections 1 l and [2 from following the mattress downwardly to the horizontal position when the bed is being opened, I provide a length of cable 27 which is attached at one end to the inner face of the blanket board section [2 and at the other end to a vertical eye bolt 28 carried upon the back wall 29 of thecabinet. The eye bolt 28 is carried within-a U-; shaped support 30, th lower flange of which-contains an orifice through which the cable 21 is threaded to be connected to the eye of the eye bolt. It will thus be understood that by adjustment of the eye bolt within the bracket 30 the operating length of the cable 21 may be adjusted. When the bed is being swung into the open position, the head board swings with and follows th mattress until it reaches the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, wherein the cable 2'! is fully extended. 'iThe' 'continiial downward swinging movement of the bed, wherein the head board of the mattress containing frame 9 swings upwardly causes the blanket board to be lifted upwardly and swung rearwardly under the tension of the cable into the vertical position.

In order to secure the bed in its open position a draw-bolt or latch arrangement is provided as shown in Fig. 5. The latching arrangement consists of a draw-bolt 3| slidably extending through a bracket 32 on the outer face of the head board of the mattress frame 9 and also through the plate (9 to which one of thecables I8 is connected. When the bed is in the open position the outer endof the draw-bolt extendsinto an orifice 33 within the side of the adjacent side panel 6. A spiral spring 34 surrounds the bolt 3| between the bracket 32 and the plate l9 and is secured at its plate end to the bolt, whereby it urges the bolt outwardly to enter the orifice 33 when the bed is in the open position. For retracting the bolt, a cable 35 is attached to the bolt and extends underneath the mattress fram 9 to the foot end of the mattress frame where it is connected to hand pull 36. It will thus be appreciated that when it-is desired to swing the bed upwardly it is only necessary to pull the hand pull 36 whereby the draw of the cable 35 will retract the bolt 3! from out of the orifice 33.

To grasp the bed in order to swing it downward- 1y, any suitabl hand grip may be provided, and forthis purpose I furnish a finger-receiving recess 3'! in the upper face of the decorative moulding 38 on the front of the mantlepiece 3. The mantlepiece also carries a pair of decorative knobs 39 which are preferably formed of soft rubber-like material and constitute floor-engaging feet when the bed is in the open position. The light fixtures provide illumination irrespective of whether the bed is open or closed.

In Figs. 6 to 9 I show a modification of the construction hereinfore described, and wherein I arrange the pivotal point around which the mattress containing frame swings at a location above and behind the front edge of the baseboard 40. I

In the modified construction I furnish a pair of U-shaped mattress containing frame supportin brackets 4| which are secured to the upper face of the baseboard 40 adjacent to the plane of the chimney breast face when the bed is in the closed position. The brackets are of a height substantially equal to the depth of the fireplace aperture'3 and the mantlepi ece 4.

Each of the brackets 4| contains a rotatably mounted pin 52 which is secured at one end to the inner face of an outer side wall 43 of the frame I surrounding the fire-place aperture. In order that such frame may swing downwardly about the pins 42 when the bed is being opened, the lower side edges 44 of the walls 43 of the frame I areinclined from the front of the frame to the rear corners.

To provide a clearance whereby the face of the frame 1' may rest upon the floor when the bed.

is open, the lower portions of the two front faces of the frame are formed with outwardly swingable sections 45 which are hinged to the front edge of the baseboard 40. The edges of the sections 45 adjacent to the fire-place aperture 2 carry inwardly directed triangular plates 46 which over-lie and hide the triangular openings formed by the inclined edges 44 of the outer walls of the frame 1.

When it is desired to swing the mattress containing frame from the closed position to the open position, or in other words open the bed, the sections 45 are first swung downwardly from the closed position shown in Fig. 6 to the open position shown in Fig. 7. The mattress containing frame 9 is then swung downwardly about the pins 42 carried in the brackets 4| to assume the position shown in Fig. 8. The blanket retaining board, consisting of the sections H and I2, is attached to the head member of the mattress. containing frame and operates in the same manner as previously described. By th use of the modification in construction, the mattress containing frame, when open, has its head portion contained between the side panels 6, rather than positioned outside of the panels 6 as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the distance of projection of the mattress containing frame from the cabinet structure is considerably decreased. This modification enables my device to be used in a smaller room than the size of room necessary to contain a device of the construction shown in Fig. 2.

It will be observed upon reference to the crosssectional figures that as the frame I is hollow a hollow space 41 is formed behind the mantlepiece and above the fire-place aperture 2. This space can be so arranged that the mantle shelf 48 is in the form of a lid whereby th space 4! may be used for storage purposes.

Although I have shown and described the particular arrangement of my invention, it is to be understood that I may make any changes and alterations as I may at any time deem necessary, without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A folding bed structure of the character described comprising a cabinet having a pair of stationary vertical spaced apart side panels, a mattress containing frame pivotally mounted at its head bewteen the side panels and swingable from a vertical closed position between the side panels to a horizontal open position extending outwardly from the side panels, a swingable front in the cabinet and upon the rear face of which the mattress frame is carried, said front being positioned between the side panels and formed to simulate a fireplace frame, mantlepiece and chimney breast face wherein the mantlepiece and fire-place frame project outwardly from the plane of the chimney breast face, a baseboard projecting outwardly from the front of the cabinet and to which the lower front edge of the fire-place frame is hingedly connected and about which the cabinet front and mattress containing frame are swingable from the vertical to the horizontal position, the face of the fire-place frame bein adapted to rest upon the floor and support the bed when in the horizontal open position, a blanket retaining board hingedly secured to the upper edge of the head member of the mattress containing frame and swingable therewith, and a blanket board retaining element forming a connection between the cabinet and the back of the blanket board and under the restraint of which the swinging movement of the blanket board is limited.

2. A folding bed structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blanket board is formed of upper and lower sections hingedly connected at theiredges. and a-ledge extending forwardly from the lower edge of the lower section and hingedly connected at its forward edge to the upper edge of the head member of the mattress containing frame, said ledge extending below and substantially parallel to the top surface of a mattress in the mattress containing frame when the mattress containing frame is in the horizontal position.

3. A folding bed structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blanket board is formed of upper and lower sections hingedly connected at their edges,

a ledge extending forwardly from the lower edge of the lower section and hingedly connected at its forward edge to the upper edge of the head member of the mattress containing frame, said ledge extending below and substantially parallel to the top surface of a mattress in the mattress containing frame when the mattress containin frame is in the horizontal position, and a mattress extension filler pad positioned at the head end of the mattress and resting upon the ledge.

4. A folding bed structure as claimed in claim 1. wherein the blanket board is formed of upper and lower sections hingedly connected at their edges, a ledge extending forwardly from the lower edge of the lower section and hingedly connected at its forward edge to the upper edge of the head member of the mattress containing frame, said ledge extending below and substantially parallel to the top surface of a mattress in the mattress containing frame when the mattress containin frame is in the horizontal position, a mattress etxension filler pad positionedat the head end of the mattress and resting upon the ledge, an extensible spring for counterbalancing the weight of the mattress containing frame, a cable guide pulley in the lower corner of the cabinet, and a cable extending from the spring over the pulley to the head end of the mattress frame.

WILFRED D. DRIVER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 299,528 Emery June 3, 1884 390.640 Alexander et al Oct. 9, 1888 1,239,540 Taylor Sept. 11, 1917 1,724,066 Bean Aug. 13, 1929 

